Three's a Crowd
by oldhokages
Summary: Honestly, could they just be done with the whole love rival thing? This was getting ridiculous...


Ino loved Naruto, and Naruto loved Ino. But it wasn't fair. Naruto also loved movies with twist endings, ramen, escort missions, underdogs, petunias, baby animals, sun tan lotion that came in an aerosol can, the cat that had taken to lounging on his fire escape, and every single shinobi of Konohagakure. But mostly he loved Sakura, and therein lie the problem.

Honestly, could they just be _done_ with the whole love rival thing? This was getting ridiculous...

"Hey, Ino! There's a new Shigeyasu movie, you know! Let's go see it."

Yes, Ino knew. It was filmed in Wave Country, wasn't it? It was just the sort of film that Ino herself loved. Predictable romance. Dramatic, not comedic. Happy endings that still left you crying, even if you didn't know why. Everything Naruto hated in a film, actually. Did he know that? Did he mind? She tugged at her hair and looked at the flower arrangement she had been working on for most of the morning, then back at Naruto who was harassing her through the window rather than just coming inside of the shop.

At some point or another Ino had loved basically every man in her life, usually all at once. It wasn't a bad thing, she thought, and she didn't consider it a personality flaw. She simply had... difficulty sometimes with differentiating the romantic from the platonic. Ino loved fully and wholly, but usually for no longer than a week or two at a time. But when her eyes fell on Naruto, she knew it was _different._ Unique. Was her stomach supposed to flutter when he smiled at her like that? Even... even when he was wiping his nose? Did he need a hanky? She had one, if he would ask.

"So are you in or out, Ino-chan?!" he asked, unable to keep the impatient excitement from his voice.

Ino tweaked a flower in her arrangement. There was an abundance of petunias.

"Okay," she answered, smiling warmly at him. "I'm in. Let me get my purse."

Naruto slunk in through the open window. "Alright! On the way, we can stop by Sakura's and ask her if she wants to go. She should be home by now, right?"

Ino hung her work apron on a hook and tried not to look put upon. "Probably."

"You know, I really like these," he said delightedly.

She turned to catch him poking her petunias and smiled faintly. "I know."

The look he shot her was nothing short of bewildered. Ino wondered if she had said something wrong and panicked.

"But you should stop that! You'll bruise them."

He stopped and Ino hurriedly went to fetch her purse. On the stairs she muttered about how stupid he was, and about how much she liked his hair. It was a much nicer blonde than hers – golden and brilliant like the sun. Hers was much paler by comparison. Moonlit. An imitation. She snatched up her bag and slung it over her shoulder before flouncing back down to where Naruto waited. Ino smiled winningly.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

They settled into idle chatter as they walked to the theater, and Ino found herself comfortable at his side. Very much so. Everything about Naruto was so warm; it was hard for her_ not _to be in love with him, especially when she had trouble remembering why she hadn't been chasing him all his life.

When they walked right past Sakura's apartment, Ino was immediately suspicious and stopped in her tracks. "Aren't we going to ask Sakura to come?"

Naruto fidgeted a little and picked at his jacket, then slowly reached out to take her hand.

"Three's a crowd," he said simply, defensively.

Naruto's palm was rough and calloused and when his fingers knit together with hers, Ino felt dwarfed. She looked down at their tangled digits, then up into his eyes. They were bluer than hers, too. Everything about him was magnificent, like he couldn't be content to remain average in any way. But his smile was uncertain now, like he wasn't sure what he was doing was okay, or if it was right. He squeezed her hand softly and his thumb ran gently over her knuckles. Did he know he was doing that, or how it made her breath hitch? She didn't know. She didn't care.

Ino had never loved anyone more in her life.


End file.
